Tooth-cleaning instrument.



G. W. SWOPB & W. N. BELL.

TOOTH CLEANING INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 19, 1913.

1 983,770, I Patented Jan 6, 1914.

I nreniiors.

UNITED STATES PATENT orrion.

GEORGE WASHINGTON sworn AND wILLIAM nAPoLEon BELL; or NORFOLK,

. vmemrn,

TOOTH-CLEANING INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent. I Application filed April 19, 1913.Serial No. 762,416.

Patented Jan. 6, 1914.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE W. Sworn, of Manteo street, and WILLIAM N.BELL, of Camp avenue, Norfolk, Virginia, have invented a new and usefulTooth-Cleaning Instrument, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to the preservation of the teeth and to theprocess of removing from between the teeth any foreignmatter gottenthere through the process of masticating food by means of floss silkthread,

and has for its object to render the process more expeditious andtherefore more practicable. We attain this object by the mechanismillustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a top viewof the instrument as it appears with the floss silk carriage turnedtoward the observer; Fig. 2 is a side View of the instrument with thefloss silk carriage resting uprightly on the handle; and Fig. 3 adetailed view in perspective of the floss silk holder. I

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several, views.

The handle A is made much like the ordinary tooth-brush handle, taperingtoward the end supporting the floss silk holder, and has attachedthereto on the top and midway between its two ends the floss-silk spoolof thread, marked C. At

its farthest and smallest end is attached the said floss silk holder,marked B by means of a metal attachment of the same metal as that ofwhich the said holder is made, marked a? indicating the bolt, and markede and f indicating the washer and nut respectively. Midway between thespool and the floss silk holder is a small aperture for the. passage ofthe floss silk, marked It. The passing of the floss through theperforation it has the advantage of keeping the thread in a better adjustment and holding the thread back from the lip, thus adding to theneatness and the sanitation of the invention.

The spool of floss silk, marked C, is attached to the handle by means ofa small metal rod or bolt marked g, which bolt is fastened by means of aflattened head marked 72 and a nut marked i. The said spool is slightlylifted from the handle to avoid friction by a small contrivance,

end is a washer, marked b and on top of s the washer is a nut markeda,,this con trivanoe is for the holding of'the threadas will beexplained hereafter, as follows: To thread the instrument, or machine,the floss silk marked 0 is drawn from the spool marked C is passedaround to the opposite side of the handle and drawn through the smallaperture in the handle marked 71:, is then drawn once around the firstupright end of the floss silk holder B between the washer b and theshoulder of the upright end, it is then drawn once around the fartherupright end of the floss silk holder B between the washer b and theshoulder of the said upright end, it is then held by the fingers whilethe nut a is screwed down, pressing the silk thread tightly between thewasher and the shoulder, the washer saving the thread from friction inturning the nut. Next the spool C is turned backward making taut thethread 0, while thus held the nut a is screwed down, pressing the silkthread tightly between the washer-and the shoulder, the washer alsosaving the thread from friction in turning the nut. The spool is thenreleased and the thread outside of the carriage B made slack. The thread0 within the carriage B is now held tight and will break before muchslack is allowed.

The lengths of the two arms of the holder are in the ratio of two tothree,the longer arm which extends farther into the mouth when thedevice is in use, being one-half longer than the other arm. Theadvantage of having this arm longer is the reduction inserted into themouth, while there is nevertheless provided a suflicient length of flossfor cleaning the teeth.

The instrument, or machine, can be used for any of the teeth within themouth, the floss silk holder being easily and quickly turned andadjusted by the fingers. The threading of the floss silk holder caneasily be accomplished in a half minute. This invention makes the use offloss silk of the length of the handle that must be i as easy for theback molar or even wisdom ing the thread between the teeth (an extremelydifficult feat for the back teeth), we place the floss silk thread inthe floss silk holder as above fully set'forth and as is fully shown'inthe accompanying drawing forming a part hereof. The handle will be madeof celluloid, bone, or German silver as desired by the purchaser.

We claim:

1. In a device of the kind described, a handle a spool holder mounted onone side thereo dental fioss holding means rotatably mounted on the sameside of the handle as the spool-holder and spaced therefrom, the handlebeing transversely perforated ,between said spool-holder and said meansto provide a retaining uide for the floss.

2. In a device 0 the kind described, a spool of dental floss mounted onone side thereof, floss-holding uprights mounted on the same side of thehandle as the spool, there being a erforation extending from side toside of said handle between said spool and said u rights, a length ofdental floss extendin rom said spool around the handle to t e oppositeside thereof, thence through said perforation, thence to said uprightswhereon it is secured.

3. In a device of the kind described, a handle, a floss-holding yokemounted on said handle, said yoke comprising a base, means for attachingsaid base to said handle arms extending from opposite sides of saidbase, the arm on one s1de being shorter than the arm on the other side,uprights on the outer end of each arm and means on the uprights forholding a strand of dental floss between them.

GEORGE WASHINGTON SWOPE.

WILLIAM NAPOLEON BELL.

Witnesses: a

J. H. SHUMADINE,

J. O. SHUMADINE.

